Sleepless
by DarkForestWolf
Summary: A cute one shot were Eren has a nightmare and comes to Armin for comfort.


**This is a short idea that came to mind not to long ago, so I decided to get it out of my system. Please enjoy this cute little one shot. :)**

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Eren let out a startling gasp and quickly sat up and off the sheets of his bunk, his heart beating rapidly against his tight chest. He looked around cautiously, eyes wide and sweat trickling down his forehead as he quickly spun around to look behind him.

Nothing.

Nothing was there.

He let out a silent breath of air and for a moment closed his eyes, wiping the sweat off his drenched forehead. He opened his eyes again and looked around the pitch black room, hearing the loud and ongoing snores of soldiers near by; Jean mumbling on about him being to loud, irritating the brunet slightly. Just hearing his voice sometimes made his blood boil...

Eren rolled his eyes and lied back down, turning on his side to face the wall as he made an effort to calm down. This dream was a lot more descriptive then they usually were. Strangely, he couldn't even remember half of it, but it still seemed to bother him none the less.

In his dream he was a titan, in his own form of course, but for some reason he couldn't hear anything around him, it was all muffled as if something great were covering his ears. It seemed like he was on a normal expedition as he was surrounded by many large tree's, some a lot taller than he really remembered. He was jogging through a forest looking for his prey, prey that would die by his hands and his hands alone. He was angry, _very_ angry, but really didn't know why. Why was he so angry?

His surroundings were unusually quiet, the muffled commands of soldiers near by falling on deaf ears as he continued to follow his instincts without knowing. A familiar pair of blue eyes suddenly flew past him, immediately catching his attention. Armin was glaring down at his own monstrous green hues and saying something that he could not quite understand. The blond looked frightened, practically screaming nonsense at him before flying ahead deeper into the forest. Anger instantly turned into fear, a very small voice in his head telling him to protect and just run- _run_.

Eren's eye's widened. Why was Armin even with him? Where was everyone else!? Should he even be here?! He ran hard and fast to catch up, ready to take the blond by force if necessary. He somehow just knew he had to get away- get away! Stay away! He remembered the forest starting to thicken the deeper he went, various muted but audible monstrous groans coming from all around him. Titans were close. Very close.

And Armin was alone.

Eren's eyes darted in every possible direction looking for the small body, he even remembered stopping to look behind a certain tree only to discover dangerous stains of red pooling onto the grass bellow him, a very small body with blue eyes and blond hair staring back at his large form as it lay motionless on the ground.

Eren's heart dropped.

Armin's torso was completely gone, scattered only a few feet away from his dismembered head. His face remained frozen in shock as his mouth hung open in a silent scream, a silent scream that Eren would've never been able to hear because he wasn't there - Armin's laugh, his smile, his knowledge... all of it! He'll never be able to hear or see any of it again because _he wasn't there._

His titan remained still, unable to move, but only continuously staring at the mess in front of him. This time he could hear it. A very audible groan coming from behind him and catching him off guard. He remembered somehow thinking it was _their_ doing - _their_ the reason why this happened, and _they_ were going to pay dearly for it.

Anger hit him hard once more- No. _Rage_. Rage came at him hard, followed by the grating emotions of guilt and sadness. _'Armin's dead'_ , was the only thing that rang through out his head over and over again, he couldn't even comprehend how it all _felt_ at that moment.

He swiftly turned around to face the very beast who did this and let out a deep and powerful roar, fists clenched tight enough to send drops of scorching red onto the floor. He was going to pay! They were all going to pay! Eren never thought much on devouring anything in this form, afraid he would somehow become the very monster many feared, but things were _very_ much different at that moment. Eren _needed_ to devour it.

He placed a hand over his stomach, remembering the feeling of such hunger to the point of pain. He also remembered his dream ending in a way were he was met with sudden blackness before waking up. He bit his lip, thinking back on the image of Armin's remains. He knew his friend was just as good of a soldier as everyone else, but he was also just as vulnerable. He was human, very human, just like his own mother. Just like him.

Armin...

Eren heard the body bellow him dip down further into their mattress, Armin's mattress. He felt a large lump form in his throat, drops of tears threatening to fall.

He was safe. Armin was actually alive.

...Right?

Eren held his breath, focused and determined to listen to the small, even breaths of his friends slumber. He licked his chapped and dry lips before sitting up again, pulling off his sheets and slowly descending himself down onto the lower bunk. He stopped midway hearing a soldier near by shift around, Reiner swatting away Bertholdts hand as it hung loosely over his face.

He descended off the ladder and instantly took notice of Armin's sleeping figure, blond hair tossed carelessly out and onto the pillow underneath him as he slept. He was intact, intact with his head, torso and everything else he needed. Nothing was missing, and he was still alive.

He took a few steps closer and crouched down, a shaken hand reaching over to brush a few of the teens soft bangs. Armin continued to sleep peacefully, his chest rising and falling to every intake of air. He let out a low chuckle and pulled his hand away. What on earth was he doing? Being this close to someone who wasn't even awake. He made a move to get up but was stopped by the blonds sudden voice.

"Eren?" Armin spoke, his voice in almost a whisper as his eyes cracked open.

Eren cursed to himself, trying to come up with an excuse- any excuse- to get himself out of the situation. He searched for words, but nothing came to mind, only staring at the blond in desperation.

Armin blinked a few times, adjusting his sleepy gaze to spot his sudden visitor, a look of shock coming across his pale features as he spotted his friend. "Eren, wh- are you crying?"

Held back by the sudden question, Eren subconsciously wiped his eyes, surprised himself to see drops of tears covering his sleeve. How long had he been crying?

"What happened?" He asked again quietly, worried. "Are you alright?"

"I'm-" Eren started, but the lump in his throat grew worse, taking back his words. His vision blurred, the rest of his tears all starting to spill out at once. He wiped his eyes again, sniffling as he did. It was like everything hit him all at once just hearing his voice, Armin's voice, alive and awake. He felt embarrassed, but also relived, ignoring the others on going questions of worry as he looked away.

Armin searched the dark room. "D-did something happen? Did you have a bad dream." He was relieved to see Eren respond with a very slow nod, but wished to know more. Eren has definatley had bad dreams before, but none had him crawling over to him. He looked so... vulnerable, and Armin didn't like that look on him.

For a moment, the two remained in each others company in silence, Eren giving up on hiding his feelings and letting the tears flow freely as he turned to look down at the boy. "-min..." he finally croaked, feeling the other slightly flinch as he knelt to the floor and rested his head on the mattress. "Armin..."

Pulled back again by his sudden actions, Armin unknowingly responded to the sound of his name. "Y-yes?"

It grew quiet once again between the two, nothing but silent tears and sniffles filling the peaceful void around him before Armin felt a small, painful tug in his own chest. He narrowed his eyes and placed a hand on the others head, frowning as he felt him trembling under his simple touch.

Eren looked up and into Armin's sea blue eyes, thankful he wasn't given a very pitiful look. However, Armin did look hurt, as if he already knew what was going on in his head. He wiped his eyes once more and did his very best to force a small smile- a pained smile. "Ah, sorry about this." He blinked a few times and let out a sigh. "I got a little carried away with this, it's nothing really."

Armin pulled his hand away, looking around before slowly scooting himself to the side and pulling up the covers. "Get in." He ordered, and Eren blankly stared at the empty space.

"I'm- what?" He questioned.

"I said get in." Armin said in a loud whisper, a little louder than he would've liked as it had him look around cautiously again. Eren continued to stare. "Just trust me Eren and hop in."

Before the other could respond he lightly tugged Eren by his shirt and pulled him up, noticing the unsure glance he was giving. He could smell the sweat off of Eren, it wasn't pleasant, but enough to tolerate, it was usually how he smelt anyways, along with the scent of earth that is. He lied down again and pulled Eren along with him, the two of them face to face.

Eren scanned Armin over carefully. It wasn't easy to see very well in the dark, but he managed to see a lot more than he usually could've, possibly due to his sudden ability. He took note of the small tint of red going across the blonds pale cheeks and how tensed he seemed to be. Was he sending off to much heat? Was he making Armin uncomfortable?

"Feel any better?" Armin questions, breaking him from his thoughts, and Eren nodded. He did feel a little better, the tears seeming to subside, hopefully evaporating into nothing with his heat. Armin smiled, a smile Eren hasn't actually seen for a while if he thought about it. "I remember doing this when we were kids. I was usually the one crawling into your bed though."

Eren gave him a questioning look. "Do you mean when there were thunder storms?"

"Yeah, I hated them, especially when I was sick. I always felt like it was because something was out to get me when I was at my weakest." He chuckled, a sweet chuckle. "You never did manage to get sick, no matter how close I would get to you."

It was Eren's turn to smile. "Your not weak now, your very strong." He watched Armin roll his eyes and huff in disbelief. "I'm serious! Your a lot stronger than you were back then."

"Eren, you know very well i'm not very good at taking care of myself physically. I couldn't even finish the 10 mile run that we had to do a week ago."

Eren frowned. "That's not what I mean." He looked around for a moment before sitting up and leaning over the side of the bed, blindly sticking his hand underneath the bunk and shifting around.

Armin blushed harder seeing some of the sweat on his back seep through his shirt, revealing a clear outline of Eren's toned figure. _'Maybe I should lend him one of mine...'_ he thought, and looked away.

Eren finally perked up after feeling something bulky from under the bed. "Got it!" He pulled up again and looked it over, handing it over to Armin. "This is were your strength is."

Armin took hold of the object and squinted to get a better look. "Is this... this is the book I've been reading since yesterday."

Eren agreed. "It is."

"How did you know it was there?"

"I've seen you pull it out from under there from time to time before bed. Connie even joked about it at lunch a few day's ago when he saw Reiner take it out of your hands after you fell asleep with it."

He blushed some more. "I-I fell asleep with it?" Eren nodded. "Well that's a new one."

"No it's not. See it just proves my point in your strength. Your so determined to learn something new everyday that you even wear yourself out sometimes, which isn't really very good, but still." Eren jokingly poked the others forehead. "You don't realize that a lot of us can't really do stuff like that, you idiot."

Armin looked away again. "I don't think that's it."

"Huh? what do you mean 'I don't think that's it'? Armin, you've gotten us out of situations that we would have never got out of ourselves! Do you remember when I had to lift that boulder to seal up wall Maria? I don't remember much myslef, but it was your voice that helped me out. You did that, by yourself, and don't forget about figuring out who the female titan is." As soon as the last sentence left his lips they both grew quiet. No one spoke about that incident, it was just something that...well, was better off left alone...

Armin cleared his throat. "Well, thank you for the compliment, but you do realize that you also have a lot of strengths yourself, right? I mean, like you said, you did seal up the hole in wall Maria but you also saved Mikasa when she ran out of gas that one time, she told me that herself. You don't remember much, but you've saved a lot of lives Eren, even mine."

The cringing image of Armin's dismembered body came back to Eren, forcing him to look away from the blond. He couldn't save him, at least not in his dream anyways, but what if a situation like that ever happened? What if he wasn't able to protect Armin? He knew he couldn't be there for him all the time, especially on expeditions, but what if something did happen to him, and he actually had the opportunity to stop it? He started to remember the titan, it's red eyes staring back at him dangerously with fresh blood oozing from it's sharp teeth. He could've killed it, couldn't he? He could've saved Armin and ran off with him in one piece- intact and alive and screaming at him to let go. He could've been protect! He could've protected him if the dream hadn't ended so quickly! But why did it end so quickly?

Why did it stop before he could attack? Why couldn't he kill it!? Why couldn't he _devour_ it!? Why couldn't he have let it suffer and wail at the top of it's lungs until it met it's final breath!? Why?!

 _Why!?_

"E-Eren? Eren, what's wrong?" Armin asked quietly, and if Eren wasn't so close to him he probably would've never heard. He couldn't see the shifter very well in the dark, but he just _felt_ the rage boiling from within him. He's known Eren and Mikasa long enough to see through their forced smiles and laughs, ever since they were kids, it's just something he's always been able to do for a while, even now, but he still never managed to confront them about it all the time, convincing himself it was between themselves. A mental picture of Eren's clenched teeth and tight fists came to mind as he slowly put aside the book. "Eren?"

He looked up at him, looked up and into those bright blue eyes, eyes that he never wanted to lose. He could feel the lump in his throat return. He bit his lip, hard, almost enough to draw blood. "...Armin?" Eren asked quietly, and Armin slightly tilted his head in question.

"Yes? What is it?" He asked again, this time letting out a small gasp as Eren reached over and pulled him close, burying himself into his chest and holding him tight. Armin blushed again for the umpteenth time and flinched, frantically looking around once more.

"Tell me about the ocean again." Eren spoke calmly, cutting off any sort of thought Armin had at the moment.

"Wha-" Armin began to question, but was only given a tighter squeeze. He held back another yelp.

"The ocean, tell me about it. What's in it?"

"...Ah, well-" Armin swallowed and thought about it, thinking back on his childhood for a moment. "I-it's really big, and covers at least 90% of the earth. It also contains a life time supply of salt that humans can live off of for hundreds if not thousands of years, centuries even." He looked down at Eren. "You know, I've already told you all of this before-"

"There was also lands of ice and fire somewhere, right? Somewhere beyond the walls?" Armin blinked.

"Yes, that's right. I can't believe you actually remembered all that." He felt Eren smirk.

"Of course I remember. Why would I forget? Me, you, and Mikasa, were all going to see it very soon, I know it. I want to remember everything you've told me about it so I know exactly what i'm looking for." He took in a shaky breath, taking note of Armin's warm and welcoming embrace. He smelt a lot like home...

"Eren-" Armin started, but quickly shut his mouth. How on earth was he supposed to respond to that? He hesitated for a moment, but placed a pale hand on Eren's mangled, unkempt hair, running his fingers through it gently. He felt the other relax a little more, loosening his grip.

"I promise...You'll see the ocean some day, the both of us will." Eren spoke into his chest, turning his head just enough to hear Armin's quickened heartbeat. He was breathing... he was alive...

Armin gulped. "I know." He says, it was the only thing he could say at the moment. He shifted into a better position, tilting his head just a little bit to see the bright moon light seep through the window. It was still dark, possibly midnight. Armin smiled and leaned into Eren's still figure. "I already told you that a long time ago. Eren, have I ever lied to you?"

He didn't respond right away, simply humming graciously to himself a little as he felt Armin start to rub his back, something his mother would do to him when he was very young and couldn't sleep. He closed his eyes, feeling himself start to slowly drift away. He felt safe. He felt at home. The last thing he sees before drifting off was Armin's smiling face, looking down at him with tender, caring eyes.

"Mm."

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 **I know this was really short, but I hope you enjoy it. If you like it come and check out my other story 'Side-Effects'. This is were it takes place anyways, or at least I would like to think that. Reviews are highly advised and I will listen to requests. Criticism is also welcomed.**

 **Again, thanks for reading! :D**


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